New York Jets Owner's Meddling Crushing Franchise's Already Low Morale
The New York Jets have been in a perpetual rebuild for more than a decade. They are now staring down yet another one.
Earlier this week, the team made another major personnel move, as Jets owner Woody Johnson fired general manager Joe Douglas. It felt like a move that was coming eventually as his power within the organization decreased after Johnson moved on from head coach Robert Saleh earlier this season and didn't consult Douglas.
Since Saleh has been fired, the team’s performance on the field has slipped. What was once a vaunted defensive unit has crumbled and the offense has not consistently produced enough to pick up the pieces.
There won't be much to judge interim general manager Phil Savag on the remainder of this season. The work of general managers is judged mostly offseason moves and the draft.
But, it is hard to imagine many credible candidates wanting to throw their hat into the ring to work under Johnson. How he has handled things with Saleh and Johnson has to be a turnoff.
It is already hard enough for coaches and players to get motivated during a lost season. At 3-8, it would take a miracle for the Jets to make a postseason push as they would have to be undefeated the rest of the way.
Could things have been better had Johnson not nixed a deal to acquire another offensive playmaker ahead of the season?
Morale is already low as coaches and players don’t like to lose. Every game means something. Players want to win and those that may hit free agency don't want to put bad tape out there for other teams to see.
Winning in the NFL is hard enough without a meddling owner who increasingly wants a hand in day-to-day football decision, as we now know Johnson has had for more than a year.
Johnson isn’t endearing himself to future candidates for general manager, head coach and his team's roster. He is rubbing people the wrong way, pushing for players to get benched and wanting weekly schedules adjusted, per Zack Rosenblatt and Dianna Russini of The Athletic.
As Rosenblatt and Russini first reported, it was Johnson who wanted safety Tony Adams benched before Sunday's game win Indianapolis. In addition, he wanted the team to practice during the bye week, a move that ruffled some veterans and runs against NFL rules and tradition for bye week work.
Adams, who had played in nine games with eight starts, didn’t record a single snap in defense aginast the Indianapolis Colts. The only time he was on the field was for seven plays on special teams.
Singling him out, especially when some outlets have him graded as the best safety on the team this season, made little sense. Those are the things that players in the locker room notice, especially the ones with an out after the season in free agency.
This campaign has been a tumultuous one. Expecting theo to practice during the only week they have off from late August through early January isn’t going to be a popular suggestion.
The end of the season is important for many people within the organization, but this is also a sinking ship.
It is hard to envision an established head coach, such as Mike Vrabel, who would have his pick of assistant coaches, seriously considering the Jets.
Coordinators making the jump to head coach for the first time, such as Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson or Houston Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, may avoid the franchise as well.
Until major changes are made by ownership, it is hard to envision things turning around for Gang Green.
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